Getting Back to Basics: Creating Effective Landing Page Copy

Having a good landing page for your website is necessary if you want to have any chance at beating out your competition in online business. It is usually the first, and maybe the only, shot you get at persuading people to convert. With that kind of pressure, what should your landing page contain?

Great content. Yes, eye-catching graphics and easy-to-navigate structures are important, but great content can make or break a person’s decision to convert or click away from your landing page.

While everyone is looking for the magic bullet of great copy, good writing boils down to hard work and a little know how. As Thomas Mann said, “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” But don’t let that scare you. A good place to start any writing project is with the basics:

Who? – Who are you? When shelling out hard earned money, most people want to know they are supporting a quality, trustworthy organization. But establishing your credibility isn’t the only important thing to consider here. You must also consider who you are writing to. Get into the minds of your target audience; understand their needs, wants, fears, emotions and motives; and try to create copy that engages readers with the internal dialogue that they are already having.

What? – What are you offering? What benefits will a user experience by investing in your service or product? This is big. People need to know what they are reading about and how it will benefit their lives. Don’t make your copy about you. Your content should demonstrate how your product or service will benefit someone’s life. And how do you know what benefits your readers are looking for? Go back to the first question; really get to know your audience.

When? – When do I need what you are offering? Let your readers know when it’s time to invest in your product or service. Your landing page can do this by capitalizing on their real or perceived needs and presenting your products and/or services as the solution.

Why? – Why should I invest in you? What sets you apart from other businesses selling the same services or products? This is important because people like knowing what their options are and it’s your job to explain to them why your service/product is better than your competitor’s.

Where? – Where can I go to learn more about you and your products or services? Your landing page content should provide links that allow people to get to know you better. Make sure your links are strategic; you want to keep people actively engaged in the buying process. With the emergence of social media marketing, it is also wise to offer links to your Twitter and Facebook sites. This will keep your company name on a user’s mind as they check their profiles and see your regularly updated posts. You may also get some free advertising if a user decides to “like” you and tell their friends about you or if someone decides to retweet your posts to hundreds, if not thousands of people.

How? – How can I get what you are offering? Nearly every page on your website should call people to action. Provide buttons to contact pages and information that lets people know how they can purchase your service or product. Make it easy for people to take the action you want them to take.

Great content that helps your bottom line is tailored to your target audience. It is true that a proper SEO website possesses critical keywords for the search engines, but human beings don’t want to look at pages stuffed with key words—they want to find pages that provide relevant information that helps them in the decision-making process. Stick to the basics and you’ll never leave people wanting for more.